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TGI Friday’s sign (David Rogers/Getty Images)

Weird Money

TGI Friday’s has more outstanding gift cards than it has in its cash reserves

Customers rushing to redeem the cards for potato skins and spinach dip could hurt franchises.

11/5/24 2:34PM

2024 has not been a great year for nostalgia-inducing casual dine-in restaurant chains. Back in May, Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy, and we noted that its “Ultimate Endless Shrimp” may have accelerated its decline. Over the weekend, we received news of another fallen soldier when TGI Friday’s, the flagship restaurant chain of domestic-airport terminals across the United States, filed for bankruptcy protection as well.

According to The Wall Street Journal, business hasn’t been great at TGI Friday’s since the pandemic: sales were $728 million in 2023, down 15% year over year, and the company’s store count had declined by 11% from 2021 as well.

However, TGI Friday’s is a franchise-heavy business that only owns and operates 39 of its own stores, compared to 122 franchised locations in the US and 316 in other countries. Because of this, the company’s franchised operations, as well as TGI Friday’s Franchisor, an affiliate that owns its brand and related intellectual property, stayed out of bankruptcy.

That being said, those franchises aren’t totally off the hook. On Monday, Reuters reported that there are currently $49.7 million TGI Friday’s customer gift cards outstanding, and the amount of unused gift cards exceeds the company’s available cash, even after taking into account a $5.9 million loan that TGI Friday’s is borrowing to fund its restructuring. Jason Binford, an attorney representing more than 60 franchisees, explained how the bankruptcy could leave franchises vulnerable to gift-card redemptions:

“TGI Fridays' independently owned franchises have little protection if customers rush to cash out their gift cards and could find themselves forced to honor TGI Fridays' gift cards at their restaurants without any assurance of reimbursement from the company, Binford said at Monday's hearing. They typically accept gift cards as payment, then seek reimbursement from the central corporation, Binford said.
Uncertainty around a company's bankruptcy filing often encourages a ‘use it or lose it’ mindset that pushes customers to accelerate their use of gift cards, Binford said.”

For now, the judge overseeing the case allowed TGI Friday’s to continue its gift-card program on an “interim basis,” giving franchisees more time to review the program and negotiate with the parent organization. However, TGI Friday’s may struggle to get its hands on more cash, as the company also lost a “significant portion of its revenue stream” due to a breach in the covenant of $375 million in bonds that it sold in 2017.

In 2017, TGI Friday’s sold $375 million in bonds structured as a “whole-business securitization,” meaning that it could lose control of business assets including the “chain’s brand, license agreements, future franchise agreements, royalties and other sources of revenue” if terms of the bond were breached.

In September, bondholders issued a manager-termination notice after TGI Friday’s made a nonrecoverable $2 million overpayment to vendors, and FTI Consulting, the then backup manager, now controls those revenue-generating assets. Basically, TGI Friday’s doesn’t have money, it doesn’t control its own revenue streams, and its franchise owners could be on the hook for almost $50 million in gift cards, assuming they all get redeemed.

TGI Friday’s is in discussions with potential acquirers about buying the business, but as it stands, the company wouldn’t have enough cash to reimburse its franchise owners if too many gift cards are redeemed. This isn’t that different from a bank-run scenario like we saw with Silicon Valley Bank a couple of years ago. If too many customers redeem their gift cards at once, TGI Friday’s won’t have the money, and franchise owners may have to eat the cost. Meanwhile, because customers now know that TGI Friday’s filed for bankruptcy, they might rush to redeem their gift cards so they don’t become worthless. Not a great situation to be in for the restaurant chain.

Tom Jones6/24/26

Prime Day is here again and Amazon’s subscription service has never been more popular

Well, it’s that time of year again: many have made their wish lists, people are scraping together the money they’ve saved to pick out a perfect gift, some are presumably leaving out refreshments for the weary delivery drivers and, more and more, drones.

It’s Amazon Prime Day — meaning that it’s the second day of the four-day promotional event that Amazon still calls Prime Day — of course, and it’s even come early this year, with the company bringing the period into late June from July, when it’s been traditionally held for the last five years.

The Prime Age

Alongside the eyes and endless clicks that the arbitrary stream of listicles on “The Best Prime Day Deals” that almost every media outlet pours into, Amazon will also be cheering the fact that there’s now more Prime users than ever before to devour the retailer and its sellers’ sometimes-contested “discounts.” Indeed, according to the latest annual estimates from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), there were just over 200 million American shoppers using Amazon’s massive subscription service at the end of 2025.

Max Knoblauch6/15/26

Electronic Arts launches a platform to put more ads in its games

Video game publishing giant EA launched a new platform on Monday designed to make the process of selling immersive ad space in its popular games easier.

The company says the platform, called EA Advertising, allows brands to “integrate directly into gameplay through dynamic, real-time placements, from stadium signage to custom in-game content.”

More so than other studios, EA has incorporated advertising into its most popular titles. As Kotaku points out, the company’s ad efforts stretch as far back as 2006. Several of its sports franchises already feature partnerships with brands like Visa, Lowe’s, Red Bull, and PepsiCo.

In-game advertising hasn’t exactly been embraced by fans, but industry experts expect it to ramp up as companies seek more revenue to offset higher games budgets and surging memory costs. EA rival Take-Two has taken a different approach, with CEO Strauss Zelnick recently saying the company was “not at risk of doing brand partnerships” in the forthcoming “Grand Theft Auto VI,” and that ads in full-price games seems “unfair.”

The $55 billion deal to take EA private, led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is set to close at the end of this month. Being the largest leveraged buyout in history, EA will likely look for more ways to boost revenue to cover interest payments.

Electronic Arts Makes Push for Ad Dollars Tied to Sports

Millie Giles6/11/26

JM Smucker says it sold $1 billion worth of Uncrustables in FY2026

After years of booming sandwich sales, JM Smucker has finally earned a billion-dollar crust.

On Tuesday, the company reported results for fiscal year 2026, highlighting better-than-expected profits driven by higher prices for coffee and sweet baked goods. However, at another point on the earnings call, CEO Mark Smucker pointed to one particularly jammy figure: in line with previous forecasts, the company sold $1 billion worth of its (almost always) crustless sandwiches, Uncrustables, in the last year alone.

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

Paramount reportedly offers concessions to resolve multistate antitrust investigation

Paramount has reportedly offered up some concessions in an effort to prevent an antitrust lawsuit by California and about 10 other states, according to Bloomberg reporting on Monday.

Reuters first reported on the potential suit from a group of unnamed states last week, which could throw a wrench in Paramount’s plans to buy rival Warner Bros. Discovery in a Hollywood megamerger.

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

Paramount Offers Concessions to Head Off State Antitrust Lawsuit

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

$98B ⛽

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

The IATA released its latest financial outlook for the airline industry over the weekend, forecasting a $98 billion jump in the sector’s collective fuel bill. The world’s largest trade group representing airlines expects the oil spike to halve profits by 49% from last year to $23 billion.

The group also expects profit margins to halve year over year, falling from 2025’s 4.2% to 2%. Still, revenue is expected to climb to $1.17 trillion from $1.07 trillion.

A surge in the cost of jet fuel has rocked US and global airlines this year, leading Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and others to raise fares and ancillary charges like bag fees. Low-cost carriers, which operate on smaller margins, have been squeezed the hardest, resulting in Spirit’s shutdown.

“It’s a tough year for all airlines, especially those whose balance sheets had not yet recovered from COVID. And, of course, for those operating in the Gulf,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, who added that demand is holding up and about half of passengers expect to spend more on travel this year. “That bodes well for a strong northern summer peak season. The big unknown is how long travelers and shippers can tolerate the higher costs of connectivity.”